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Trip to Alaska from Florida- Meet new friends

I'm interested in riding to Alaska soon. I plan to ride from Tampa, Florida to Prudhoe Bay (Dead Horse), Alaska.

I plan to leave around August 1, 2011. The map shows the route I plan to take. It isn't official or set in stone though; I am flexible and able to change it if needed.

I'm looking for a riding partner that wants to ride to Alaska and back. I'm flexible with my time because I am self-employed. If anyone is interested, let me know. I would prefer to camp as much as possible instead of staying in a hotel each night depending on weather conditions.

Also, I would love to meet some club members so if anyone lives near the routes I have included and would like to meet up let me know.

Hope you're riding that 93 GSPD up on your trip. We do not see too many passing thru these days; there have been just two this year that I'm aware of.

I suggest you spend some time lurking or posting over on the Alaska Regional forum on ADV Riders (http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=68). There are a bunch of great folks over there with a tremendous amount of experience riding in this neck of the world. Also a good place to find a potential riding partner.

Depending on when you make it to Fairbanks you should plan on staying in the dorms at the local U. Much cheaper than the motels and not much more expensive than camping, but I think they will stop taking riders around the 15th of August. More on the dorms here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=534385.

Once you make it to the interior of Alaska there are plenty of folks with the skills, knowledge and desire to help if you have an issue with an Airhead. You can find help through the Air Marshall, the Alaska forum or PM me.

Looking at your route I can only suggest you try to add riding the Yellowhead Hwy that runs thru Banff and Jasper Parks in Alberta. The Yellowhead connects to the Cassiar. And, if possible work in a stop in Hyder, AK; also near the Cassiar at Stewart, BC.

Thanks for the reply- lots of useful information. Yes, I'm definitely taking the GS PD. I put an ad ADV Riders forum looking for possible riding partners but I didn't put in in the Alaska section; I should probably add it there also.

I think I'll get to Fairbanks before the 15th of August so it may be possible to stay at the dorms. I would need another place to stay on the way back. I don't want to stay too long, I rather avoid the cold.

I'm gonna look into the Yellowhead Hwy you mentioned. I did plan on stopping in Hyder but it's so hard to find maps for that area. I'm gonna take a look at the other spots you mentioned also.

You should expect sub-freezing temperature north of Atigun Pass in Mid to late August. Last time I was up there it was in mid-June and it was 24 degrees. Snow up there is always possible, but in mid August it gets much more possible. Bundle up.

I have changed to my route (still changing actually) to include all of the places everyone has suggested. I'm definitely looking forward to Top of the World Highway. Keep hearing great things about it.

I have very good riding gear (Spidi Ergo 05) and my jacket has 3 liners to keep me warm. The inner liner has insulation to stay warm for cold weather, the middle liner is wind and water proof and the top jacket protects from everything else. I've ridden in 25 Fahrenheit weather before and my bike has heated grips.

I will take lots of pictures trust me. I have the Contour GPS camera for my helmet and than my other camera for everything else.

Heated gear

A lot depends on your body type. I wore a Roadcrafter one piece, a goretex outer jacket, a fleece zip up and a heated jacket under that. On the haul road in May, I was still nearly hypothermic by the time I got to Deadhorse. Just sayin.

The Brooks Range was completely snow covered in May, and the road itself was 6 inches deep of mud, freezing gunk, and an avalanche closed the road an hour or so after our return trip, causing whatever trucks there were there that Spring to idle for hours waiting for it to be cleared. At altitude, in the slop, winds and near blizzard conditions. If you'd been waiting on a bike.......you'd be in touble.

Early winter in August may be different, I dunno, but at least a vest would be cheap insurance. As the locals have noted here, winter ends late and comes early up there.

When I rode to Nova Scotia a few years back, in September, I was very glad I brought my Widder electric vest. One morning was cold and I stopped to put that vest on. Later in the trip, in Massachusetts, I was battling 95F+ heat.

I would suggest bringing an electric vest along, with the proper hook-up for it.